Frist takes early lead

[Jack]

Reuters

More than 20 months before any real votes are cast, Republican Senate leader Bill Frist of Tennessee won a straw poll on Saturday of party activists choosing their early favorite in the 2008 White House race.

Frist, who packed the home-state crowd with supporters wearing blue "Frist is my leader" buttons, won nearly 37 percent of the 1,427 votes cast by delegates to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was second with 14.4 percent, while Sen. George Allen of Virginia finished tied for third with President George W. Bush, whose name was added to the ballot by 10.3 percent of the delegates at the urging of Arizona Sen. John McCain.

The poll results, while meaning little in the long run, could give the top two finishers, Frist and Romney, a boost in recognition heading into the 2008 campaign.

The win for Frist followed a tough year in which he became the target of a federal probe of his stock sales and was criticized for his Senate leadership.

Frist and Romney were among six possible presidential candidates who spoke to the gathering of nearly 2,000 activists from 26 states in what served as an unofficial kickoff to the 2008 race. All registered delegates were eligible to vote in the poll, sponsored by political tip sheet The Hotline.

The potential candidates who attended the convention were Frist, Romney, Allen, McCain, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

McCain, in a show of support for Bush that rivals said was an acknowledgment he would not perform well in the poll, told his supporters to write in Bush's name. McCain, who lost to Bush in the race for the 2000 Republican nomination, still managed to win 4.6 percent of the vote.

Huckabee was next with 3.8 percent, followed by New York Gov. George Pataki at 2.7 percent, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- another write-in -- with 2.2 percent and Brownback at 1.5 percent.

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney said it was "shocking" that Republicans backed Frist in the poll and called him "the poster child for the Republican culture of corruption and incompetence."

So who will the Dems pit against him?

[Sonart]

.

So who will the Dems pit against him?

Whoever can make the most entertaining sound bite out of the following:

"After viewing one brief videotape of Terri Schiavo, 'Doctor' {said with a sneer} Frist declared that all her own doctors were wrong and that Terri Schiavo was not in a vegatative state. Isn't this the same agenda designated outcome, denial of the facts and lack of judgment that got us into so much trouble in Iraq? Can this country afford another George Bush?"

.

[RickSp]

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Whoever can make the most entertaining sound bite out of the following:

"After viewing one brief videotape of Terri Schiavo, 'Doctor' {said with a sneer} Frist declared that all her own doctors were wrong and that Terri Schiavo was not in a vegatative state. Isn't this the same agenda designated outcome, denial of the facts and lack of judgment that got us into so much trouble in Iraq? Can this country afford another George Bush?"

Jon Stewart on the Daily Show ran the clip of Frist denying that Schiavo was in a persistant vegetative state, next to Frist denying that he ever said any such thing. Stewart did one of his magnificant double takes, shook his head and said something to the effect of "I can believe that he is a bad doctor, but isn't he even aware that video tape exists?"

[Nono]

So who will the Dems pit against him?

Not a Hilary/Barack ticket, I somehow think.
Hell, anybody who can shinny up the greasy poll these days comes out pretty slippery/slimey dontcha think?

[Osborn F Enready]

Anyone who would vote for Frist, has no faith in honesty or honor, or respect.

[Sonart]

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Not to veer from the subject, but this has been driving me crazy for some time now. Rick, is that a bunny with a pancake on its head? :eek:

Al Gore and John Edwards! Ok, ok, stop laughing... we can have our pipe dreams, can't we.


.

[Jack]

Not to veer from the subject, but this has been driving me crazy for some time now. Rick, is that a bunny with a pancake on its head?

<O.T. reply>
Yeah, it is. I saw the same image somewhere in a forum where the poster said, "and for the rest of you, here's an image of a bunny with a pancake on its head". Wonderfully absurd.

[bishop]

i don't think there are going to be ANY candidates worth voting for this next time around.. (there weren't any in the past 2 elections imo.)

the republicans' ideas have led us into our current situation with a war without end that should never have happened in the first place - plus massive deficits with no end in sight either.. frist is one of the biggest bush lackeys out there right now, and i see him as being less trustworthy compared to the other untrustworthy republicans out there..

as for the democrats - they've had several years to stake out positions on iraq, spending, etc.. and in that time, have they come out with any policy ideas of their own? nope.. they offer absolutely nothing other than criticism of bush.. that's fine, but that doesn't make them competent leaders. that said, there are a couple democrats out there who want to return to clinton's economic/spending policies - and i'd tend to support people with those sorts of views..

if badnarik wins the primaries for the LP, i'm definitely not voting for him. i'm not a fan of the socialist greens either.. maybe a good candidate will emerge from the reform party, but i doubt it.. i would be interested in seeing what a self-financed independent could offer.

right now, my girlfriend and i are planning to do a write-in vote for mianus... or maybe one of our cats, lawrence mcduck.

[RickSp]

Not having had a avatar for so long I saw this photo. The version I saw was captioned "I have no idea what you are talking about but here is a photo of a bunny with a pancake on its head." I thought it was funny.

I also suspect that the bunny with a pancake on its head might prove to be competition to the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The Bunny mit Pancake as a mix of protein and carbs, might strike a better spirtual balance than the more carb laden FSM. But I digress.

To return to the topic before attacting a warning from a mod with pancake on his head, I find Romney's performance interesting. In another thread I suggested that Mitt Romney might be the Republican to watch. I don't necessarily like the guy but suspect he may be able to unite the Republicans while still having an appeal to independents. I am probably wrong but then again who knows?

[Scribbler1]

In a sane universe, most republican candidates, ESPECIALLY the presidential candidate wouldn't have a chance against most ANY Democrat candidate. All an opponent would need to do is make sure the voters were aware of:
1. Bush's poll #s and the costs of the Iraq war.
2. The fact that Bush is the "standard-bearer" of the same party the OTHER GOP candidates represent.

In a sane universe, anyway.

The universe is not sane.

I think the Republicans will lose the majority in Congress and win the WH again.

[ericsp23]

If I remember correctly all of the early indicators pointed towards Lieberman being the Democratic nominee for the 2004 election.
Just something to keep in mind.

[RickSp]

If I remember correctly all of the early indicators pointed towards Lieberman being the Democratic nominee for the 2004 election.
Just something to keep in mind.

Lieberman? Isn't he a Republican?

No, I guess not. He just plays one in Congress.